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A Place Called Home

My latest post at Pieria looks at the social and personal costs of economic migration:

Economists like people to move around. Where there is completely free movement of labour, long-term unemployment should not exist: there may be short-term unemployment, but this will dissipate as people leave regions where jobs are disappearing and move to places where new jobs are being created. If there is long-term unemployment, therefore, labour market reforms are needed to encourage people to “follow the work”.....

.....But even when there are completely open borders, labour does not move freely. It seems people are not actually that keen on chasing jobs. Many would rather stay where they are even if it means a sharp drop in their standard of living. The threat of starvation does tend to make people move, though even then some people choose to stay and starve. But if there is any sort of safety net, then people are likely to stay put.

I go on to discuss the reasons for their reluctance. The "wandering" lifestyle has a terrible price....

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